Gairloch – a Museum in a Bunker and a Waterfall Glen
A day.
The route
Gairloch Museum sits in a converted Cold War nuclear bunker, and inside there's a lighthouse lens taller than most grown-ups, a croft house to step into and plenty for small hands to try.
Lunch is in its café upstairs, and then it's out into Flowerdale Glen, where a waymarked path follows a river through big old trees to a pair of waterfalls. It suits families with children who can manage a couple of hours' walk.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is The Net Store in Ardheslaig, 12 miles away. Sleeps 4.
Then Rhuroin, 13 miles away. Sleeps 3.
The day
Gairloch
A morning in an old bunker among lighthouse lenses and croft-house kitchens, soup upstairs, then a woodland path to the sound of falling water.
About five and a half hoursAbout 2.5 miles on foot
Gairloch Museum
Gairloch Museum is on the main road through Achtercairn, in the middle of Gairloch, looking over the loch, with disabled parking at the main entrance. From April to October it opens Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and from 4 November to 19 December Wednesday to Saturday until 4pm. A day ticket costs £9 an adult, £2 a child aged 5 to 16 and £20 for a family, and under-fives go free. Inside the old bunker are the original lens from Rubh Re lighthouse, a replica croft house, an interactive gallery on the natural world and lots of hands-on displays for younger visitors. There's a 25-minute film on life here in the 1940s and 50s, too. A visit usually takes one to two hours. Lunch is upstairs in the Am Bàrd café, with homemade soup, scones and lunch dishes, open Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm (Wednesday to Friday, 10am to 2pm, in November and December). There's a lift to the first floor, where the café and toilets are. On Saturdays, when the café is shut, bring a picnic.
3 min by car
Flowerdale Glen
Drive 3 minutes south to the Flowerdale Glen car park, by the turning for Gairloch harbour. The glen runs up behind the Old Inn. For small children, the Arboretum Trail takes 20 minutes to an hour among big old Douglas firs, spruces and larches, and red squirrels have been seen right on the path. For older ones, the Waterfall Walk follows the Abhainn Ghlas, the Grey River, up to the Easan Bàna falls. It's 4 kilometres there and back, about two and a quarter hours, well marked, with paths off to the right for the best views of the falls. Go in daylight: in November the sun sets soon after 4pm, so set off up the glen by 1.30pm. After a wet spell the path will be muddy, so wear boots.
If it rains
The museum is all under a roof. In heavy rain keep the glen to the short Arboretum Trail under the big trees, or leave the falls for a drier day.
Mountain Coffee Co, a café in Gairloch.
Photographs by Gavin Jones, Am Bàrd Cafe and Purenaturepics via Google